How Could You? Hall of Shame-Tracy Dossman-Child Death

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Sacramento, California, Tracy Dossman is in the news again. She is the former foster mother of Amariana Crenshaw, who died horrendously in her care at age 4 1/2 January 11, 2008.

“Tracy Dossman, 43, has filed numerous court actions while also being the subject of legal disputes. A snapshot of the case surrounding Dossman and the death of her foster child, Amariana Crenshaw:

Feb. 17, 2006: Dossman files for and later receives a restraining order against Amariana’s biological mother, Anisha Hill, saying that Hill is hounding and threatening her.

Feb. 9, 2007: A state licensing evaluator visits Dossman’s home and finds a bicycle lock on the refrigerator, unlocked toxics and a house temperature of 62 degrees. She details the violations; more violations follow.

Aug. 2, 2007: Amariana is treated at a local clinic for a painful right leg that causes her to limp – the 17th time the child has suffered injuries in two years of living with Dossman, according to records obtained by The Bee.

Jan. 11, 2008: Amariana’s body is recovered about 3:30 a.m. from Dossman’s smoldering rental home near South Natomas. She was 4 1/2 years old.

Feb. 27, 2008: In a joint news conference, local and federal investigators announce they have no leads in Amariana’s death and offer a $10,000 reward.

March 2, 2010: The state orders that Dossman be decertified as a foster provider. Dossman appeals but later agrees to the ban.

June 24, 2010: Sacramento County Child Protective Services releases an internal report concluding that errors and bias among agency workers in favor of Dossman were factors in Amariana’s death.

Sept. 23, 2010: The California Department of Health notifies Dossman that it is suspending her certified nurse assistant license from Nov. 1, 2010, until Sept. 30 of this year. She can then apply for reinstatement.

May 2, 2011: Dossman makes a bankruptcy filing in federal court in Sacramento.

May 12, 2011: The insurance lawsuit against Dossman is stayed in Sacramento Superior Court, pending the bankruptcy case

“Amariana’s death in January 2008 has confounded Sacramento police and federal arson investigators, who determined that she died when one or more Molotov cocktails were tossed through a window of Dossman’s rental property on Sweet Pea Way. The little girl’s charred body was removed before dawn from the smoldering living room, where she reportedly had been sleeping when the homemade firebombs erupted.”

“Sacramento police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong said The Bee’s stories reinvigorated the investigation of Amariana’s death, but that no new leads have developed.

Dossman’s bankruptcy petition marks another legal turn in the case, which has spawned thousands of pages of court records, investigative reports, legal filings and child-welfare documents.

The petition also halted a civil lawsuit filed by the insurance company seeking to collect more than $46,000 paid to Dossman after the fire to repair the rental property. According to the lawsuit by Residence Mutual Insurance Co., Dossman failed to adequately document the repairs, some of which were shoddy.

The suit contends the lender, Downey Savings and Loan Association, did the bulk of the work.

The house went into foreclosure and later was sold.”

“Joan C. Handzell, the attorney for Residence Mutual, said the insurance company had been set to go into mediation with Dossman when the bankruptcy petition was filed earlier this month. The company decided last week to drop the matter, she said.

The state of California was less willing to drop its dispute with Dossman.

For more than two years after the arson fire, Dossman continued to be a foster provider in Sacramento, taking in some of the county’s most vulnerable children. However, the state Department of Social Services revoked her foster care certification in March 2010, two months after The Bee documented the chronic irregularities in her home – including a locked refrigerator and lack of heat in the winter.

In banning her from providing foster care, the state determined that her home “constitutes a threat to the health and safety” of children – including Amariana who, before her death, was beaten by other foster children and at least once by Dossman, according to state records.

Dossman also had been providing home health care as a certified nurse assistant. The state suspended her CNA license until Sept. 30 of this year, when she can apply for reinstatement, according to the California Department of Public Health.

Ironically, Dossman’s largest source of income since losing her licenses appears to be from her adoption after the fire of Amariana’s older sister, now 11. In 2010, Dossman received $11,712 in adoption assistance and $3,882 in unemployment benefits, according to the bankruptcy petition.She claims to have unsecured debt of more than $60,000

As a foster provider willing to take in children with special needs, Dossman stood to earn between $562 and $711 a month per child, depending on age. At the time of the fire, the Dossman household included her two biological children, 9 and 19, an 18-year-old nephew and six foster children between 4 and 17.”

So in California, you can be a bad-enough parent to be banned from further foster care due to constituting a threat to the health and safety of children but still be a good-enough parent to your foster-adopted child and still get money from the state?